“Emergency” Road Repairs? Or an Abuse of Power?

An “emergency” is defined in the CA Civil Code as “circumstances that could not have been reasonably foreseen which require immediate attention…” If a director does not have a legitimate reason for not providing homeowners the 48-hour notice of the meeting as required by the CA Corporations Code, that director may be in breach of his/her fiduciary duty.

Yesterday afternoon, George told the board that there was an opportunity to start some of the road work/paving on June 4 and if we didn’t do it the work could be potentially delayed beyond the dates that the school district gave us for using Richland Elementary’s parking lot.

Because of that, Harold called for an emergency board meeting with the understanding that we had to publicly approve a contract for Eagle Paving to do road work and to discuss moving the start date up to next week. This project was mentioned at the last board meeting and the board chose one bid out of the two received at an “emergency” executive board meeting a few days later. But, before any work could begin, the contract had to be approved at an open board meeting. This was supposed to happen at the next regularly scheduled board meeting on June 11.

The contract was approved with some additions that I requested; reflective paint to be used in striping and cutting down some speed bumps to allow for easier wheelchair access on our community roads. After that vote, Harold called the meeting and refused to discuss anything else.

Harold refused to allow any discussion or provide any explanation as to why this meeting constituted an emergency. Road paving is not an emergency. Calling this meeting an emergency without providing 48-hour notice to the homeowners is a violation of the CA Corporation Codes. He also would not allow time to answer additional questions about why this project is being rushed and its financial implications.

Homeowners who attended this meeting were angry. I was angry. Transparency and goodwill are needed to unite this community and it is not happening.

Trower Report Recommendations: I believe that we can all agree on some level that the roads need some maintenance. Harold and Ken have demanded for some time that the roads were being ignored and behind schedule. But that maintenance schedule doesn’t exist. The 2023 Trower report stated that the seal coat/crack fill was due. However, the 2″ street overlay had at least an 11-year life remaining. The contract Eagle Paving presented us is reasonable, and I did vote to approve it, but the proposal also includes costs for a 2″ overlay in the south end of the park.

My Unanswered Questions:

1. What makes repaving the roads an emergency at this time? Are there sinkholes or potholes?
2. Why is this board trying to push the paving project so quickly when the Mobile Home Park Utility Conversion Program applications open again on 1/1/2025? (This program, if approved for Foothills, would replace aging gas and electric distribution systems in our sub-metered park. And repaving our roads at SDG&E cost would be included.)
3. Why are John and Lorenzo not allowed to use the road repair machine that the HOA bought a couple of years ago as a strategy to decrease our costs?
4. What was the parking arrangement the last time the roads were done? Did we use the school parking lots back then?
5. Why is it that we have to expedite this ahead of a regular board meeting to make sure we can use the school parking lot when George stated in his e-mail that “Eagle Paving would provide vehicle access for those homes affected and would handle barricades and/or flag personnel”. Can’t we use our visitor parking?
6. How can this board justify spending $79,000+ on road repairs when they were critical of the past board for replacing a rotting and failing roof?
7. How can this board justify spending the money when the Treasurer/VP is saying the park has a “grim financial situation” due to the previous board and that the HOA now owes $150,000 to the reserve accounts?

All of our questions and concerns should be addressed. Perhaps large projects and expenditures should wait until after the recall vote. Let’s stop the bleeding and start the healing.

UPDATE from Boar meeting 6/11/2024: During the Maintenance Director report I tried to ask the questions I listed above. Harold refused to allow me to ask the questions. He tried to yell above me, and instead adjourned the meeting abruptly. So, NO answers.